Virology
TWiV 435: Two virus particles walk into a cell
By Vincent Racaniello | | This Week in Virology
The TWiVome discuss the blood virome of 8,420 humans, and thoroughly geek out on a paper about the number of parental viruses in a plaque. You can find TWiV #435 at microbe.tv/twiv, or listen below. Click arrow to play Download TWiV 435 (73 MB .mp3, 121 min) Subscribe (free): iTunes, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV!
The purity of plaques
By Vincent Racaniello | | Basic virology, Information
The plaque assay – my favorite assay in the world – is a time-honored procedure to determine the number of viruses in a sample, and to establish clonal virus stocks. The linear relationship between the number of infectious particles and the plaque count (illustrated; image credit) shows that one infectious particle is sufficient to initiate infection. Despite the …
TWiV 434: Live long and pupate
By Vincent Racaniello | | This Week in Virology
The esteemed TWiVumvirate reveal the discovery of a new negative stranded RNA virus of wasps that regulates longevity and sex ratio of its parasitoid host. You can find TWiV #434 at microbe.tv/twiv, or listen below. Click arrow to play Download TWiV 434 (64 MB .mp3, 106 min) Subscribe (free): iTunes, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV!
The viruses in your blood
By Vincent Racaniello | | Basic virology, Information
If you have ever received a blood transfusion, along with the red blood cells, leukocytes, plasma and other components, you also were infused with a collection of viruses. A recent study of the blood virome of over 8,000 healthy individuals revealed 19 different DNA viruses in 42% of the subjects. Viral DNA sequences were identified among the genome …
An open letter to Psychological Medicine, again!
By Vincent Racaniello | | Uncategorized
Last week, Virology Blog posted an open letter to the editors of Psychological Medicine. The letter called on them to retract the misleading findings that participants in the PACE trial for ME/CFS had recovered from cognitive behavior therapy and graded exercise therapy. More than 100 scientists, clinicians, other experts and patient organizations signed the letter. …
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TWiV 433: Poops viruses and worms
By Vincent Racaniello | | This Week in Virology
The lovely TWiV team explore evolution of our fecal virome, and the antiviral RNA interference response in the nematode C. elegans. You can find TWiV #433 at microbe.tv/twiv, or listen below. Click arrow to play Download TWiV 433 (65 MB .mp3, 107 min) Subscribe (free): iTunes, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV!
David Tuller
Trial By Error: Some Things I’ve Read Recently–Aboriginals and Long COVID, Tips for Disability Claims, Profile of Ron Davis
By David Tuller, DrPH Failure to address Long COVID in Australian Aboriginal communities Croakey Health Media is a small but feisty Australian news outlet that covers social and structural inequities in healthcare. Croakey recently published “a call for action to address Long COVID in Aboriginal communities,” which focused in particular on the situation in the …
Trial By Error: Journalist Simon Spichak on Lack of Focus on Post-Exertional Malaise in Long COVID Exercise Trials
By David Tuller, DrPH According to the headline of a recent article in The Sick Times, “less than 20% of Long COVID trials involving exercise even mention post-exertional malaise.” The news organization analyzed the registration records for Long COVID clinical trials and found that only a small minority assess or take into account post-exertional malaise (PEM), …
Trial By Error: JAMA Touts Long COVID Exercise Trial with Clinically Insignificant Results; Most LC Exercise Trials Ignore PEM, Per Sick Times
By David Tuller, DrPH In its current “Medical News in Brief” section, JAMA is touting and amplifying the questionable claims of a flawed trial to treat or prevent Long COVID published by one of the journals under its umbrella—JAMANetworkOpen. The JAMA headline: “Resistance Training Improves Long COVID Outcomes.” Technically, the headline is true. In the …
Trial By Error: Another Exercise Trial with Clinically Insignificant Findings
By David Tuller, DrPH A recent study from JAMA Network Open, called “Resistance Exercise Therapy After COVID-19 Infection: A Randomized Clinical Trial,” demonstrates some of the flaws that so often mar papers in this field of research. The trial’s reported results do not warrant the optimistic conclusion that the intervention “may be a generalizable therapy …
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Trial By Error: A New Cookbook for People with Chronic Illness
By David Tuller, DrPH ADDED. A reader left this comment at the end of the post: “Thank you, David. Even all those details can’t convey how WONDERFUL this book is. I ordered multiple copies via Amazon and am giving them for holiday gifts – and not just to my friends who are limited in diet/energy. …
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Trial By Error: Some Thoughts on Ten Years of Trial By Error
By David Tuller, DrPH Ten years ago this month, I launched Trial By Error with a 15,000-word investigation of the misbegotten and fraudulent PACE trial, which purported to prove that graded exercise therapy (GET) and cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) could cure what they then called chronic fatigue syndrome. And what an amazing ride it’s been …
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